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Investing.com - Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) lowered its price target on Alcon Inc. (NYSE:ALC) to $88.00 from $93.00 on Thursday, while maintaining an Equal Weight rating on the eye care company’s stock. The stock, currently trading at $81.04, sits near its 52-week low of $80.48, though InvestingPro analysis suggests the stock is fairly valued at current levels.
The price target reduction follows Alcon’s downward revision of its fiscal year 2025 revenue guidance to $10.3-$10.4 billion, representing 4-5% growth excluding foreign exchange effects, compared to the previous outlook of 6-7% growth. This aligns with InvestingPro data showing current revenue growth at 4.04%, with 5 analysts recently revising their earnings expectations downward.
Wells Fargo noted that Alcon’s revised guidance reflects softness in the global cataract market, where volumes grew approximately 1% in the second quarter, below the historical average of about 4%, with management now assuming low-single-digit market growth for 2025.
The analyst also highlighted competitive pressures in the intraocular lens (IOL) segment that are expected to persist over the next 18-24 months, primarily from new market entries such as Johnson & Johnson’s PureSee in Europe.
Despite these challenges, Alcon projects sales growth to be weighted toward the fourth quarter, with approximately 7-9% growth excluding foreign exchange effects expected, and the company believes it is regaining some market share in the United States with its PanOptix Pro product.
In other recent news, Alcon Inc. reported its second-quarter 2025 earnings, with earnings per share (EPS) of $0.76, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.7194. However, the company fell short on revenue, reporting $2.58 billion against a forecast of $2.63 billion. Following this, several analysts adjusted their outlooks for Alcon. Mizuho (NYSE:MFG) lowered its price target for Alcon to $110, citing a slowdown in the eye-care market growth, particularly in the Surgical segment. Stifel also reduced its price target to $90, noting that Alcon’s second-quarter results missed top-line expectations and led to a reduction in sales growth guidance. Bernstein SocGen cut its price target to CHF84.50 after another guidance downgrade, while BTIG decreased its target to $92, maintaining a Buy rating. Despite these adjustments, Alcon’s Vision Care segment showed a 5.0% growth, and its operating margins exceeded expectations.
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